The last week in July, at the Ice Palace, which kicked off with Brandon Cutrell and Ray Fellman's Broadway at the Beach and the Shequida birthday gala, at which the diva essayed "O mio babbino caro," from Giacomo Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi," and DJ Lina did a lively lip-synch number, continued with events highlighted by the welcome return of burlesque queen and 'female female impersonator' World Famous Bob and performances by model and go-go dancer Bulldog from New Orleans.
|
|
 |
|
photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
|
|
Bulldog
|
|
| ........................................................................................... |
|
Considered in the pages of QNews early in the year for his appearance at one of Daniel Nardicio's Speakeasy parties, in the East Village, Bulldog made a breathtaking cowboy, dancing on the bar at Ken Braun's Whip It Out Wednesday on July 28.
The next night, Daniel presented World Famous Bob and her young tranny performance artist friends, Glenn Marla and Dave End, in compelling excerpts from their one-person shows, under the rubric "Gender Fabulous." DJ Chuck McTague was in charge of music.
Wryly introducing himself as "your fat tranny performance artist for the evening," Glenn discoursed creatively on the meaning of the title of his show, "Tragic Magic;" the myriad shades of yellow; and, as he tap danced, the idea, "I find formal wear challenging." Having begun swathed in white and continued in colorful male attire, Glenn ended by successfully wriggling into a girdle and showering himself with glitter.
Variously accompanying himself on accordion, guitar, and Casio keyboard, Dave offered diverse responses to being called a faggot, including considering its plural an acronym of "Fabulous Artistic Guys Get Over-Traumatized Sometimes;" observations on growing up gay in; and the proclamation, "I Am a Dead Give Away (so you may not want to hang around with me)."
|
|
 |
|
photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
|
|
World Famous Bob
|
|
| ........................................................................................... |
|
Bob favored us anew with the opening of her autobiographical "One Man Show," remembering a youthful daydream of encountering her 'real mother,' who would sweep her off to Hollywood to become a movie star; recalling having to distinguish pet animals from food animals on the California farm where she grew up; and celebrating meeting her first gay friends when she was 15 and coming to find her own identity as "a faggot." She ended with a striptease to the iconic opening phrases of Richard Strauss' "Also Spracht Zarathustra."
It was Mardi Gras in New Orleans in July at Daniel's "Nardi Gras" underwear party on July 30, with Mardi Gras beads and pennants, balloons and streamers in traditional carnival colors gold, green and purple abounding. Chuck was the DJ for his first Nardicio underwear party, playing Dixieland jazz; Corey Corey, dancing in revealing grass skirt and wielding a spear, evoked the spirit of the Krewe of Zulu; Bulldog danced in an elaborate black leather mask and black leather hood; and Bob performed a "flash dance" to "Maniac." Pixyish Bryan Cash, from Late Night Kitchen, deep-fried beignets, rolled them in powdered sugar, and made us feel like we were at Café du Monde. A clothing-optional pool party came near the end of the evening.
